KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah cited today the medical maxim, “first, do no harm,” in response to the Kelantan government’s proposal for surgeons to amputate limbs under hudud law.
“We must not violate our professional oath of doing no harm to the human body. As stated ‘Primum non nocere’ which means ‘first, do no harm’,” Dr Noor Hisham posted on Facebook as he shared a Free Malaysia Today report headlined “Muslim docs say no to punitive amputation.”
Kelantan deputy mentri besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah reportedly said recently that the PAS state government would study Qatar’s implementation of hudud, suggesting that surgeons execute the hand amputation punishment.
Mohd Amar had said Kelantan’s currently dormant enactment of the harsh Islamic penal code can only be enforced after a private member’s Bill by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang is passed in Parliament.
The Bill aims to increase Shariah courts’ sentencing limits to 30 years’ jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 lashes.
